Syringes or syringe-like dispensers are commonly used for dispensing and/or injecting various fluids/materials, e.g., for administering medicaments in a medical setting. Moreover, most syringes are designed for dispensing or injecting a single fluid/material. However, there is an ever increasing need to dispense two different fluids/materials that need to be isolated from each other during storage but mixed immediately prior to or concurrently with their use. Dispensing of fluids/materials in such a manner is required in numerous applications, especially in medical settings.
Certain medications become chemically unstable and undergo chemical transformation over a period of time when admixed, thus precluding storage while mixed, and requiring extra preparation effort and additional time prior to administration, e.g., at the time of treatment or carrying out a surgical procedure. For example, some pharmaceutical preparations, such as injectable solutions or suspensions of a drug, are not sufficiently stable to accommodate prolonged storage prior to use; however, the components of the solution or suspension may have adequate stability if the components are stored separately prior to being mixed for use. As an example, a mixture of lidocaine and corticosteroid, commonly used in certain medical procedures, begins to deteriorate in less than 24 hours when combined in a single chamber.
It is therefore desirable to introduce a simple, modular syringe system that is capable of being prefilled with multiple materials in isolation from each other, and prepackaged for storage, such that when the need arises the system can be immediately removed from the packaging and used without the need for a complicated operation. Such a system would be particularly useful in the reduction of the work of those engaged in medical practice such as doctors, nurses, and medical technicians.
Many syringes and syringe systems have been disclosed to-date that attempt to solve some of the above needs. Examples include U.S. Pat. No. 3,477,432 to Shaw; U.S. Pat. No. 5,053,019 to Duffy; U.S. Pat. No. 5,364,369 to Reynolds; U.S. Pat. No. 5,569,193 to Hofstetter et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,637,087 to O′Neil et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,779,668 to Grabenkort; U.S. Pat. No. 5,971,953 to Bachynsky; U.S. Pat. No. 6,027,472 to Kriesel et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,132,400 to Waldenburg; U.S. Pat. No. 6,224,568 to Morimoto et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,468,250 to Yang; U.S. Pat. No. 7,311,692 to Kato et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 8,517,983 to Kakiuchi et al; and, U.S. Pat. No. 8,728,054 to Schulhof. However, these syringes and syringe systems suffer from having intricate designs and highly complex features, making them costly to produce and/or purchase, and potentially cumbersome to use. Accordingly, there is an ongoing need for simple and versatile syringe-like dispenser systems that are capable of storing multiple materials and mixing such materials immediately prior to use and/or delivering such materials in an immediate sequential manner.